Homemade Otah (or Otak Otak) Spicy Fish Cake wrapped in Banana Leaf

Otah or Otak-Otak. Spicy fish paste wrapped in banana leaf. One of my favourites. Fish paste with tangy spicy spices grilled in banana leaf. This recipe is slightly modified from my mum’s recipe. Cut 2 onions, 5 garlic, 4 shallots, 2 stalks of lemongrass, 3 fresh chilli (you can use more if you want it more spicy), 4 dried chilli, 1 thumb size of galangal (blue ginger) and 1 thumb size of turmeric (yellow ginger) into smaller pieces to fit into the blender. Add these into a blender. Then add 8 candle nuts, 1 slice of belacan and 2 tbsp of oil into the blender. Blitz and blend until the paste or rempah is smooth. Heat up some oil in a wok. Pour in the rempah and cook for about 10 minutes or until the rempah is dry and fragrant. Remove from the wok. Remove the skin and bones of 750g of batang fish (Spanish mackerel). Cut 1/4 of the batang into thin strips. Set aside. Place 3/4 of the batang fish chunks into the blender. Add the fried rempah, 2 tbsp corn flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 2 eggs and 200ml coconut milk. Add 4 kaffir lime leaves, if available. Blend until smooth. Transfer the fish paste into a mixing bowl. Add the batang slices and mix well. Wash and cut a few pieces of banana leaves into squares or rectangles. You can decide the size of the otah and cut the leaves accordingly. If you are serving this as a snack for parties, you can cut the leaves into smaller rectangles. But we prefer a thick chunky otah. Lay the greener side of the banana leaf on a plate or plank or cutting board. Scoop the fish paste onto the centre of the banana leaf. Then fold the banana leaf to wrap the fish paste. Use toothpicks to secure the two ends. Heat the oven at 220 Celsius without fan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. If you make smaller otah, you can reduce the baking time to about 15 minutes. You can also grill these on a bbq grill. Once baked, open up the leaf and enjoy the delicious and slightly spicy fish cake. It can be eaten as snack, appetizer, side for rice or use it for sandwich.